President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. departed to Brussels in Belgium to attend the Commemorative Summit between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the European Union (EU).
During his departure speech, Marcos Jr. said the Philippines will serve as the country coordinator between the ASEAN and the EU.
"In addition to pursuing ASEAN’s interests as country coordinator for the EU, I will always certainly push for Philippine priorities within the context of the ASEAN-EU cooperation particularly in post-pandemic economic recovery and trade, maritime cooperation, and of course, climate action,” he said.
"Although I am representing the Philippines, I am now also representing all of ASEAN but nonetheless, as I have mentioned, Philippine interests will always enter into all of my discussions,” he added.
According to Marcos, the summit marks 45 years of ASEAN-EU relations highlighting discussions on the most relevant issues concerning both regional organizations, such as security challenges, sustainable development, and economic cooperation.
He is also expected to have at least 10 bilateral meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the summit.
Marcos is scheduled to attend the 10th ASEAN-EU Business Summit on December 13, and the ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit on December 14.
Aside from the Philippines, ASEAN member states include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
